Gospel of 9 May 2020
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
John 14:7-14
To have seen me is to have seen the father
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know me? ‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself; it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me. will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.’
Reflexion
Nothing is more invisible than a thought. You don’t know what I am thinking nor can I tell what you are thinking. But let a man speak and his words reveal his thoughts. Take the deepest thought and clothe it in words, and it will be visible to millions.
In a similar way, we can also speak of God who is pure Spirit. He is the invisible Deity which no eye has seen. But He gradually makes Himself visible through His creation, through our intellect and through the words of the prophets and the inspiration of scriptures. Without such revelations, we would have no knowledge of Him. But even so, words and signs are inadequate to describe the inexplicable, the incomprehensible. How can a finite creature fully grasp the mystery of the Infinite?
But now the Invisible Deity has been made visible. That which was beyond the reach of our intellect has been made known to us. That which we could only grasp in a blurred fashion has been given such clarity. To step back and just grasp the importance of this Truth should make us grasp for breath. What happened? What monumental thing changed everything?
The simple answer is Jesus. Jesus happened. The Word became flesh and He tells us today, “To have seen me is to have seen the Father.” He has revealed God to us. Jesus makes known what we would never have discovered on our own.
How fitting it is that Jesus should be called “the Word” for He communicates the very nature of God to us. John 1:18 reminds us that no one has seen the essence of God the Father, but the Son has “declared him” or “made him known” or “explained him” or “revealed him.” But more astounding is today’s claim. Jesus does not just reveal the Father by speaking of Him, Jesus reveals the Father in His own person. Jesus is the Invisible Deity made visible.
If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. He is not some blurry image of the Almighty. Jesus makes it clear that God is not some imaginary figure. Jesus radiates the glory of God. The Church has a word for this. They say the Son is “consubstantial” with the Father. That means the Father and the Son share the same substance and essence - “God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God”. The Father is God and the Son is God. Jesus is the blazing, magnificent revelation of God Himself. When Jesus speaks, God speaks.
So what does it mean to be Catholic? Being Catholic means taking our Lord’s words seriously, “to have seen me is to have seen the Father.” Our Catholic religion is not just a religion of concepts, words and ideas. Our faith is not just based on speculations, myths and guess work. It is a concrete faith, a tangible faith, a sacramental one. Our God is not somewhere else far far away, a figment of our imagination, a subject of our speculation. He is very real. He is truly present to us in the Church and especially in her sacraments.
And so now when we baptise a child or an adult, it is Christ who baptises. When we see the priest consecrate the bread and wine, it is Jesus who is changing them into His own Body and Blood. When we confess our sins to a priest, it is to our Lord Himself whom we are confessing to. To have seen, heard and experienced the Church, especially in her sacraments is to have seen, heard and experienced Christ Himself.
How do we know this to be true? Well, we have Jesus as the living proof. He is the Invisible Deity made visible. He is the sacrament of the Father. And because Jesus is truly and really God and He truly exists, be assured of this - whatever you ask for In His name, He will do it.